Just War In Vietnam
To what extent can the Vietnam War be considered a just war?
Ziad Bayoumy
IB Candidate Number: Word Count:
1512
Table of contents
A. Planning the investigation 3
B. Summary of Evidence 4
C. Evaluation of Sources 5
D. Analysis 6
E. Conclusion 8
F. List of Sources 9
A - Planning the investigation [157]:
The focus of this investigation is the theory or concept of just war, and what makes a just war “Just.” This investigation will explore the question: To what extent can the Vietnam War be justified as a just war? Throughout this investigation, the philosophy of a just war will be broken down into its fundamental components. The purpose of this is to identify the extent of which …show more content…
Firstly, according to records, the war resulted in the death of 58,200 American service men [1]. It is also estimated that a total of around 1.3 million death, 590,000 of which were innocent civilian deaths. One of the main aspects of a just war is the cause and intention [2]. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s initial intention was to prevent communism from spreading, however, when he was asked about his policy in 1965, he said “We fight because we must fight.”[3] Johnson’s and Nixon’s plans fell out shortly after the war had begun. So although there were good intentions initially, when they carried out their plans, they ended up abandoning their preliminary plan, and proceeded fighting an unjust …show more content…
The Americans knew they had the weaker ground, since they were fighting on unfamiliar territory, let alone the fact that they were battling with standard, traditional warfare against a new, unknown style of warfare. Knowing this, and knowing that they were on the back foot, president Johnson still issued the orders to proceed with the war. This means that he and his generals were willingly subjecting their soldiers to combat on unfamiliar ground, against unfamiliar tactics. It was essentially subjecting them to their death. Even though, they still proceeded, which is unjust to the American soldiers. Knowing they cannot deny the orders, the Americans had to use un-conventional tactics of their own. Leading onto the third aspect of just war that I am discussing, the means of combat used. Since the Americans had the weaker strategies, they decided that it would be completely honorable, and morally acceptable to pillage homes of those who lived in peace and had nothing to do with the war. Then they proceeded to resort to rape, and other unethical means of
Ziad Bayoumy
IB Candidate Number: Word Count:
1512
Table of contents
A. Planning the investigation 3
B. Summary of Evidence 4
C. Evaluation of Sources 5
D. Analysis 6
E. Conclusion 8
F. List of Sources 9
A - Planning the investigation [157]:
The focus of this investigation is the theory or concept of just war, and what makes a just war “Just.” This investigation will explore the question: To what extent can the Vietnam War be justified as a just war? Throughout this investigation, the philosophy of a just war will be broken down into its fundamental components. The purpose of this is to identify the extent of which …show more content…
Firstly, according to records, the war resulted in the death of 58,200 American service men [1]. It is also estimated that a total of around 1.3 million death, 590,000 of which were innocent civilian deaths. One of the main aspects of a just war is the cause and intention [2]. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s initial intention was to prevent communism from spreading, however, when he was asked about his policy in 1965, he said “We fight because we must fight.”[3] Johnson’s and Nixon’s plans fell out shortly after the war had begun. So although there were good intentions initially, when they carried out their plans, they ended up abandoning their preliminary plan, and proceeded fighting an unjust …show more content…
The Americans knew they had the weaker ground, since they were fighting on unfamiliar territory, let alone the fact that they were battling with standard, traditional warfare against a new, unknown style of warfare. Knowing this, and knowing that they were on the back foot, president Johnson still issued the orders to proceed with the war. This means that he and his generals were willingly subjecting their soldiers to combat on unfamiliar ground, against unfamiliar tactics. It was essentially subjecting them to their death. Even though, they still proceeded, which is unjust to the American soldiers. Knowing they cannot deny the orders, the Americans had to use un-conventional tactics of their own. Leading onto the third aspect of just war that I am discussing, the means of combat used. Since the Americans had the weaker strategies, they decided that it would be completely honorable, and morally acceptable to pillage homes of those who lived in peace and had nothing to do with the war. Then they proceeded to resort to rape, and other unethical means of